head to head · open source
orm vs lowdb
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars, 2,538 forks, 2,627 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lowdb has 22,580 stars, 962 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. orm leads on adoption by 111% (47,640 vs 22,580 stars). orm is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; lowdb is written in JavaScript under MIT. orm has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, lowdb 4%. orm was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (database, javascript, nodejs), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| orm | lowdb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 23K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-03-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 962 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick orm if
- You weight community size — 48K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick lowdb if
- You want the lowdb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and lowdb fits your workflow better
About orm
Prisma ORM is a next generation TypeScript ORM for Node.js and TypeScript applications, supporting PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, SQLite, MongoDB, and CockroachDB, and it is aimed at developers and teams building data backed applications in that ecosystem.
About lowdb
lowdb is a small, MIT licensed embedded JSON database for JavaScript and TypeScript that persists data to a plain db.json file, aimed at Node.js, Electron, and browser projects that need local storage without running a database server.
read the full lowdb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is orm or lowdb more popular?
orm has 47,640 GitHub stars and lowdb has 22,580. orm has the larger community by that measure.
Are orm and lowdb free?
Both are open source. orm is licensed under Apache-2.0 and lowdb under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between orm and lowdb?
orm is written in TypeScript and lowdb in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, orm or lowdb?
Choose orm if you want the larger community (47,640 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose lowdb if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.